September 22, 2009

President Interdum Fidelis

WASHINGTON — President Obama is exploring alternatives to a major troop increase in Afghanistan, including a plan advocated by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to scale back American forces and focus more on rooting out Al Qaeda there and in Pakistan, officials said Tuesday.

The options under review are part of what administration officials
described as a wholesale reconsideration of a strategy the president
announced with fanfare just six months ago. Two new intelligence
reports are being conducted to evaluate Afghanistan and Pakistan, one
official said.

The sweeping reassessment has been prompted by deteriorating conditions on the ground, the messy and still unsettled outcome of the Afghan elections and a dire report by Mr. Obama’s new commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal.
Aides said the president wanted to examine whether the strategy he
unveiled in March was still the best approach and whether it could work
with the extra combat forces General McChrystal wants.

The Times continues the flip-flop theme:

Among the alternatives being presented to Mr. Obama is Mr. Biden’s
suggestion to revamp the strategy altogether. Instead of increasing
troops, officials said Mr. Biden had proposed scaling back the overall
American military presence. Rather than trying to protect the Afghan
population from the Taliban,
American forces would concentrate on strikes against Qaeda cells,
primarily in Pakistan, using special forces, Predator missile attacks
and other surgical tactics.

...

Mr. Obama rejected Mr. Biden’s approach in March, and it is not
clear that it has more traction this time. But the fact that is on the
table again speaks to the breadth of the administration’s review and
the evolving views inside the White House of what has worked in the
region and what has not. In recent days, officials have expressed
satisfaction with the results of their cooperation with Pakistan in
hunting down Qaeda figures in the unforgiving border lands.

A shift from a counterinsurgency strategy to a focus on
counterterrorism would turn the administration’s current theory on its
head. The strategy Mr. Obama adopted in March concluded that to defeat
Al Qaeda, the United States needs to keep the Taliban from returning to
power in Afghanistan and making it a safe haven once again for Osama bin Laden’s network. Mr. Biden’s position questions that assumption.

Let's include the stated reason for the review: Obama is shocked - shocked! - to learn that there is corruption in Karzai's government:

But the Afghan presidential elections, widely marred by allegations
of fraud, undermined the administration’s confidence that it had a
reliable partner in President Hamid Karzai.
Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden already had raised doubts about Mr. Karzai,
which were only exacerbated by the fear that even if he emerges from a
runoff election, he will have little credibility with his own people.

“A counterinsurgency strategy can only work if you have a credible
and legitimate Afghan partner. That’s in doubt now,” said Bruce O.
Riedel, who led the administration’s strategy review of Afghanistan and
Pakistan earlier this year. “Part of the reason you are seeing a
hesitancy to jump deeper into the pool is that they are looking to see
if they can make lemonade out of the lemons we got from the Afghan
election.”

I'm glad they explained that, or cynics might have thought it was due to Obama's sagging poll numbers and a need to placate the left during the healthcare debacle.

The Times concludes:

Mr. Obama now has to reconcile past statements and policy with his current situation.

“The problem for President Obama is he has made the case in the
past that we took our eye off the ball and we should have stayed in
Afghanistan,” said former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen.
But now that he is in charge of the war, Mr. Cohen said, Mr. Obama is
discovering “he doesn’t have much in the way of options” and time is of
the essence.

The WaPo editors bemoaned Obama's inconstancy yesterday; today it is the Times.

From one side, taliban and al qaeda folks are the ones who are deeply dear to Obama (the ones he honored on last Sept.11 day): sworn enemies of America and free world, radical muslims, and true community organizers, thought on a bit wicked side.

From the other side, his narcissic and egomaniac mind wants to be a Big Winner in previously declared Great Afghan War (whatever it means).

"Let me be clear. Al-Qaeda and its allies -- the terrorists who planned and supported the 9/11 attacks -- are in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Multiple intelligence estimates have warned that Al-Qaeda is actively planning attacks on the United States homeland from its safe haven in Pakistan."

"And if the Afghan government falls to the Taliban or allows Al-Qaeda to go unchallenged, that country will again be a base for terrorists who want to kill as many of our people as they possibly can." - Obama in March

Be on alert whenever you hear Obama proclaim "let me be clear." It's a "clear" signal that he has no actual belief or commitment to his next point. It's a typical liar's tactic, like starting a sentence with "to be honest."

The compassionate Left wing actress and strong Obama supporter is in India filming a new movie.
Unfortunately, "the irony that the Hollywood star was there to film Eat, Pray, Love, in which she portrays a woman hoping to find herself in Hindu spirituality, was lost on local devotees for whom the temple has always been open."

"Villagers hoping to celebrate the beginning of Navratri, nine days of worship of their Goddess Durga at Ashram Hari Mandir, close to Delhi, found their temple sealed by Roberts's vast security team of 350 guards, bulletproof cars and a helicopter."

Miss Robert's, a frequent critic of the Right, "is staying at Pataudi Palace," where she "is being protected by 40 gunmen."

As I recall, Peace in Hindi, is "Namaste', but since it's hard to pronounce, Kumbaya works just as well.

Afghanistan isn't important. His speech to the UN is; he's demanded the world take action over poverty and the climate or he'll pain them, force them to see, give them nightmares and force them to hear voices of those they repressed. The world owes and must pay and cash works just fine.

He's just going to say; see, I'm President now and I used and pained to get what I wanted and then they made me President; Why wouldn't I do the same thing to all the other countries? So, they should start appeasing him now before the pain and using starts and just go along like most dems do; He's just charismatic like Hitler. No problem.

Has political corruption in Afghanistan descended to the level of every day politics in Chicago? Is there actual evidence that Karzai has pimped himself out to someone as thoroughly and blatantly as the President did on a daily basis with 'Uncle Tony' Rezko? Is someone on tape trying to buy the Afghani equivalent of a Senate seat as is Jesse Jackson Jr. with Rod Blagojevich?

Finally, given the President's 20 year attendance at Hate Whitey United, where Calypso Louie Farrakhan was feted as an esemplar of religious leadership, why isn't he better prepared to deal with the zealots of the Taliban?

This appears to be one area where the President's past experience, his immersion in the sewer of political corruption from which he was skimmed to become the parrot and puppet of his masters, should be able to inform whatever half-assed and fully reversible decision that he decides to promote. It's odd that he appears so hesitant - has he lost faith in his ability to lie his way out? Or is he awaiting instructions?

I hope you don't mind if I repost this Julia Robert's story from yesterdays UK newspapers where we learn Julia Roberts angers Hindus as worshippers are banned from their temple.

Seriously why don't we all just read UK papers since they at least adhere to bashing everybody as long as they deserve it. Julia looked so at ease playing a high-priced whore in Pretty Woman; did they even bother considering anybody else?

Julia Roberts angers Christian worshipers too, you know. As a matter of fact, she probably pisses off Zoroastrians, come to think of it. Her close personal friend Danny Glover is on his way to Tegucigalpa to express solidarity with Mel Zelaya. Are these major global events or did I just wake up from a bad dream?

Apparently Obama's theme for his big UN speech today is "it's not my fault". This guy almost seems delusional now, living within a bubble of photo ops, news conferences, interviews, and speechifying. I honestly don't know when he has had a day of actual work.

I remember a photo of him in his Senate office during the campaign, the desk was empty and the office was eerily sterile. In contrast, McCain's office had the memorabilia of a lifetime of service.

To watch this man jump from new initiative to new initiative like a hyperactive teenager tipping over garbage cans is truly disturbing.

At a time when we should be tending to the important things, he wants to remake our society. There is something deeply disturbing about this man's psyche and his motives.

The ignorance of our national press is breathtaking (to paraphrase Rummy).

Who the hell did they think this guy was - Teddy Roosevelt or U.S. Grant? He was a nobody - figuratively and literally. Did they think he was really a leader with no idea of leadership or management or making decisions. At least McCain with all his warts was trained to be a leader and exercised decision making during a life and death situation (flying a fighter jet on a bombing mission in Vietnam). We are now blessed with a guy with no experience and no idea on how to make a decision that will end up protecting American lives who is coupled up with a guy who is also faking it - Biden. Thank you, the independent voters of America and disgruntled republicans, you have not only complicated my life but also the Once's life since now he has to do something he has no inkling of what or how to do it.

Obama is twisting slowly, slowly in the wind. There is no good way out of Afghanistan without risking his honor, his prestige, and his legacy. He must fight it, and to do so he must rely on seasoned military men, because neither he nor any of his advisers, not even Biden, have a clue about the military, about war, or about radical Muslim intransigence.

If it weren't for our boys in girls in harm's way, it would be time to start ridiculing this President and his administration. Oh, wait, they'd welcome the ridicule, I suspect. Halp us, Oh Won. We are trapped in Nomad's Land with no beast of burden to ride. And you give us this Beast of Biden? Ask him if he's ever heard of Alfred Mahon.
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Aren't you glad we have a military strategist genius as our vice president? We don't have to listen to the generals, we have our vice president, the military genius (haven't I said that?) to strategize.

The hard part of strategizing is done, now is time for the generals to get out of hiding and make the military do the easy thing to pick out the Al Qaeda, and invite Osama to a talk at the White House.

[A] list which includes: giving England's Queen Elizabeth II an iPod with his speeches on it; giving British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a collection of DVDs that were not formatted to the European standard (by contrast, Mr. Brown gave Mr. Obama an ornamental desk-pen holder made from the oak timbers of Victorian anti-slaver HMS Gannet, among other historically significant gifts); calling "Austrian" a language; bowing to the Saudi king; releasing a photo of a conference call with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which the president was showing the soles of his shoes to the camera (an Arab insult); saying "let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel's"; saying the United States was "one of the largest Muslim countries in the world"; suggesting Arabic translators be shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan where Arabic is not a native language; sending a letter to French President Jacques Chirac when Nicolas Sarkozy was the president of France; holding a town-hall meeting in France and not calling on a single French citizen; and referring to "Cinco de Cuatro" in front of the Mexican ambassador when he meant Cinco de Mayo. Also of note was Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton giving Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a "reset" button with the Russian word for "overcharge."

I'm with Janet. The desk is for show. He doesn't actually do any work.

Posted by: Jane | September 23, 2009 at 09:19 AM
I dunno..I think he has been doing to much work..That whole transformation change to America is hard work. You try turning a democracy into socialisn in 10 months.
/sarcasism

They were talking about how the strategy crafted in March had to be changed because of the changing conditions, specifically, the Taliban was fighting back harder than anticipated.

Somehow this is the smartest president and administration ever, yet they keep failing because things are worse than they'd realized: The economy is harder to turn around than they thought because the mess Bush left them is worse than they'd realized, the Taliban now fighting back harder than they'd realized, etc.

If they can't actually grasp the facts of reality, what makes them so smart?

He's too busy 'making things clear', PD, to address the dissonance within. I said months ago that the three C's, Climate, China, and Capital are not going to yield to the fevered imaginings of the progressive mind. It's like the Titanic overcoming North Atlantic icebergs.
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Biden was the one man gaffe machine during the campaign, and pretty much made up all his "facts" in the VP debate.

Posted by: Pofarmer | September 23, 2009 at 08:47 AM

You mean how the US and France kicked Hezbolla (he pronounced it "Hizzzzzzzzzzzzbola") out of Lebanon and then sent in the UN to maintain peace? And Glenn Eyefull sat there clueless like this was really what happened?

You mean how the US and France kicked Hezbolla (he pronounced it "Hizzzzzzzzzzzzbola") out of Lebanon and then sent in the UN to maintain peace? And Glenn Eyefull sat there clueless like this was really what happened?

That was the humongous one. But I recall him pulling numbers out of his nether regions that had no relationship to reality. The guy really is a shamless bafoon.

I am starting to think that Afghanistan will be for Obama what the economy was for Carter. Carter had something like 7 different economic recovery plans in 3 years. After tying one for a few months, and no resuts, he would trot out a new group of experts to announce a new plan that would turn things around. Obama is going to be doing the same thing with Afghanistan from now until 2011, and it will destory his credibility with a large part of those who still "like" him, even if they don't like his policies.

I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust. Part of this was due to misperceptions and misinformation about my country. Part of this was due to opposition to specific policies, and a belief that on certain critical issues, America has acted unilaterally, without regard for the interests of others. This has fed an almost reflexive anti-Americanism, which too often has served as an excuse for our collective inaction.

...On my first day in office, I prohibited – without exception or equivocation – the use of torture by the United States of America. I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed, and we are doing the hard work of forging a framework to combat extremism within the rule of law. Every nation must know: America will live its values, and we will lead by example.

Carter was the first president I was old enough to vote for, and being a good little democrat in a family of democrats, I pulled the lever for him, with great expectations that only an 18 year old (or a progressive liberal) can hold. My father was the only republican I even knew was a republican. If anyone else I was around was, they wouldn't admit it. Anyway, I helped vote Carter out and Reagan in and have voted R in every election since, with the exception of 1996, when I voted for Clinton (or the status quo, I never could get behind Dole). I made a vow after the 2002 mid-terms, never to vote for a democrat again, even for dog catcher. I haven't. And I won't.

All those demagogues at Turtle Bay aren't going to like that talk of the Rule of Law. Fortunately, they know it's all bullshit, knowing about the Rule of Law in Chicago.
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Thanks Soylent Red. Acting like a dick with your ad hominem attacks will really get people to agree with you.

Now go away. Time for the adults to talk.

So what is Biden proposing? Stay in Afghanistan, reduce our presence, and use drones on the population? This is a terrible idea. Our soldiers get to be targets to al-Qaida recruits wanting to prove their manhood, while all the casualties the drones produce will be identified as "wedding guests."

And to what end? What are the victory conditions when we can declare victory and go home? Oh do they intend to maintain the SQ for another four years and someone else takes over?

It seems that there are only two results: stay in and spend a generation building Afghanistan into a nation, or pull out now. Obama hates the idea of the first, and he'll be held responsible for the second (unless he blames Bush for getting them into this in the first place, which actually might work).

Why have we seen increased Taliban and al Qaeda activity in Afghanistan?

For these reasons:

1) The Surge in Iraq succeeded, and those Islamists who had been flocking to fight jihad in Iraq are now either staying or flocking to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

2) Pakistan's increased military operations against insurgents inside Pakistan are now forcing them to move into Afghanistan, which has a weaker and less stable government.

3) The Taliban and al Qaeda are taking advantage of the weakness of NATO and Obama to exploit whatever conditions they can find in Afghanistan.

The swamp was being drained, and the rats are becoming more desperate. Now is the time to show strong resolve and finish them off.

But instead, a pro-Islam POTUS and a wishy-washy NATO will allow them to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Obama will probably pull out of Afghanistan to placate his Left-wing base, and we'll be left right back where we were in Sep. 2001, with Afghanistan as a safe haven for terrorists who'll now be even more emboldened due to our failure to crush them when we were so close.

The photos facing visitors is absurd. As for the desk, though, you are all to young to remember but secretaries used to take dictation and I believe his Senate desk is an old fashioned one where there were drawers facing out as well as facing in so that secrtaries could easily reach for their supplies.
Senate furniture never dies. It just gets endlessly recirculated.

OT - I just got off the phone with my uber left friend about Scott Harshbarger. She of course isn't following ACORN, has not heard of the NEA, loves BO, Rachel Maddow and everything else I abhor. At any rate her response on why Harshbarger was chosen was: "He's all about ethics". I asked why on earth ACORN would hire someone "all about ethics" she said: "Maybe they really want to clean things up."

and we are doing the hard work of forging a framework to combat extremism within the rule of law.

Super, treating terrorism as a law enforcement problem under Clinton worked excellently. I mean, we hardly weren't attacked at all. It's not like there was a series of international attacks culminating in a large attack on American soil-or something.